MALDON and Tiptree boss Alan Kimble praised the performance of Cliff Akurang in their disappointing defeat against Dereham.

Maldon lost their Ryman League division one north away game 3-1 on Saturday and Kimble wasn’t best pleased with some of the defending on show.

Akurang opened the scoring for the visitors on seven minutes but Dereham then equalised three minutes later.

Another first-half goal and a third after the break sealed the win for the home side.

Kimble said: “Cliff Akurang had a great game.

“I think it was the best he has played for Maldon.

“He was up there playing against Dereham by himself for a lot of the game.”

Kimble did see positives in Saturday’s defeat and added: “I thought we played well, we got our noses in front in the first seven minutes but then let the game get away from us.

“I was pleased with certain aspects of our play.

“But I wasn’t happy with the defending that led to the goals.

“It was very disappointing.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and the players would have to stand up and be counted.

“We won some of the individual battles but not enough of them.”

Looking ahead to this weekend’s league match against visiting Waltham Abbey, Kimble said: “It’s not one step forward, two steps back.

“It’s more like two steps forward one back.

“I know what I need to do. Not necessarily to change around our fortunes but to get us going again.

“I thought we had turned a corner.

“It is a measure of how good a side is as to how quickly they bounce back.

“And hopefully we can do that on Saturday.

“Hopefully, we will have a few new players for the weekend, if the budget allows.”